Internet censorship
'May 19th Facebook Ban: Damage Assessment' On May 19th the Lahore High Court issued a notice to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority requesting a ban on the Social Networking site, Facebook ...Continued With immediate effect Pakistan's blog-sphere and Twitter-sphere jumped into action to protest the ban. A Twiter hashtag, #FBPkBan was created where Freedom Advocates, Activist, Technology Professionals and Entrepreneurs from the Pakistani diaspora have displayed an outcry at the recent High Court notice. Presently leading the campaign are @DrAwab, @arrafiq, @Ramlas, @Sabeen, @ifaqeer , @kidvai, @hushamahmed Other members from the Blogosphere, Technology and Business community are encouraged to share any information that you may have here. PTA Press Release Islamabad: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has directed all concerned operators in Pakistan to block website www.facebook.com till further orders. These directions have been issued in compliance with the directions issued by Ministry of IT & Telecom (MoIT) in view of decision of the Honorable Lahore High Court (LHC). Earlier on May 18, PTA has issued instructions to all concerned to block the objectionable link/URL on facebook which were immediately blocked. PTA has established a Crisis Cell to monitor all such contents. PTA’s helpline toll free number 0800-55055 and email complaint@pta.gov.pk can be used to notify all similar URLs where such objectionable material is placed. Khurram A. Mehran Director (PR) =Events= *Press Conference: May 20th at Karachi Press Club click for detaill Date: 20th May 2010 Time: '''5:00 pm (PST - Pakistan Std Time) '''Venue: Karachi Press Club map it Webcast Info: TBA -- Contact @DrAwab Update: Based on the Tweets received thus far it appears like the Press Conference was a disaster. *OK! There is absolutely no possibility of rational dialogue on the Internet Censorship issue. Everyone, please stay safe.#fbpkban -- From @Sabeen *There's is nothing that can be done on the Internet Censorship issue. Just be safe. And sorry. #fbpkban -- From @kidvai =Situation Update= (Real Time documentation of incidents as they arise) FORMAT: When posting situation make sure to include the DATE, YOUR TWITTER ID. *''Everybody - Problem at KHIi Press Club - gang of idiots outside threatening the Press Conf #FbPkban -- From @ayeshahalam @abidifactor'' *In addition to Facebook, as early Thursday (May 21st) morning YouTube, Wikipedia and Flickr have been banned by PTA in Pakistan. =Community Outcry= *Initial community outcry on Twitter #FBBanPk Exerpts: Blogosphere Chatter *''Islam isn't threatened by Facebook. You don't like the site, close your account. Maybe concentrate on unjust wars, occupation, drones?'' -- FatimaBhutto *''S''HIT continues to hit the fan Wikipedia / Youtube / Facebook - is there anything else - lets unplug the Internet Backbone'' -- DrAwabAlvi'' *''PTA seriously needs some educated, teach-aware people in their censorship board, who know how to block pages instead of whole freakng domain'' -- HamzaZafar *''Crazies, censorship is censorship. Even if (it is) Facebook is wildly repellent, there's never any excuse to censor.'' -- FatimaBhotto *''Bottom line --it's bad for business and investment in the country, here we are -- ex-pats / hyphenated Pakistanis working towards promoting a +ve image through our respective platforms -- OPEN, APPNA, etc -- and there the Goverment of Pakistan undermines it's diaspora's good work.'' -- Siliconstani *''The REAL issue is not #FBpkban. It is the self-oppressive mindset of the larger population which rejoices in self-harm. Matter of concern'' -- RamlaAkhtar *''What's wrong w/ D media? Why aren't they getting that Facebook ban is part of a larger issue that at the end of the day could effect them?'' -- Siliconstani *''One bad guy in a village? Burn, the whole village down. Problem solved!'' --HushamAhmed =Industry Position= Below this is a list of Pakistan-based or Pakistan-related Facebook Pages that have been affected by the Facebook ban. List your page's name linked to its original FB address (Google to look it up) if possible, approx number of members (fans), and briefly explain the nature of the work you were doing. Thanks. Business Pages (Commercial pages. Includes services.) *DELL Pakistan -- 26,294 members -- equipment provider *DAWN.COM -- 16,000 members -- provides news *PEPSI Pakistan -- 13,271 members -- beverage manufacturer *Google Pakistan --4,206 members -- Google.com.pk Facebook presence *Newsweek Pakistan -- 7,802 members -- news provider *Cinnabon Pakistan -- 4,465 members *Wi-Tribe 5,272 members -- Wireless Broadband Provider *Levi's Pakistan -- 18,902 members *ETail.Pk -- 3,821 members -- Online Store *Standard Charter Pakistan -- 1,333 members -- Bank *CIO Pakistan -- 863 members -- provides news *Inspurate Design -- Graphic & Web Design Service provider *Karachi Snob -- Restaurant Agregator *Daaman -- 47,101 members -- Fashion label NGOs/ Community-Based Organizations' Pages All non-profit, advocacy organizations) *The Second Floor (T2F) -- 5,462 members -- Community organizations *Pakistan Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) -- 2,717 members *TiE Lahore Chapter *TiE Karachi Chapter *Strengthening Democracy Through Parliamentary Debate *Pakistan Changemakers Hub -- 311 members -- Connecting community leaders with the public, to enable change for all (in health, education, etc.) *Pakistan Sustainability Network -- 1170 members -- Connecting people and organizations working for environment (renewable/ alternate energy, recycling, cleanliness drives, carbon footprint reduction, etc.) Organizational/ Institutional Pages (Universities, governmental agencies, utilities, etc.) Government Pages *Pakistan Army -- 13,980 members *Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC)-- 3,874 members -- Pakistan Government *U.S. Embassy Pakistan -- 1,619 members =Personal Pages= (Including celebrities and everyday citizens) *Why I won't boycott Facebook, Blog post by @Fursid *Hypocrisy of PTA, by Huma Imtiaz *Pakistan Electronic Purdah / Veil, by @AbidBeli =Press Coverage= *ABC News Report: Facebook Banned in Pakistan *Facebook & Islam: Culture Clash, PC World *Facebook Disappointment, Mulls Situation, The Express Tribune *Pakistan vs. The Internet: YouTube Blocked, The Express Tribune *Political Cartoonist split on usefulness of everyone Draw Mohammad Day *Pakistan Blocks YouTube, AP Wire / Yahoo News =Advocacy= =Links= Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) We stand against DrawDay - FB Page Draw Mohammad Day FB Page =Previous Campaigns= *Blog Crackdown *YouTube Ban in Pakistan *Blog Crackdown in India, Pakistan comes to the rescue Site created: Wednesday, May 20th, 2010 Category:Internet Censorrship Category:Facebook Category:Freedom of Speech